Foxy Production is pleased to present Waterwood, Gabriel Hartley’s latest solo exhibition at the gallery. Hartley is known for his abstracted paintings that evoke figures and cityscapes. In his new series of acrylic and ink paintings on wood, he grinds into the grain of his surfaces to produce intense but subtly-colored images that are at once molecular and celestial. They suggest vistas of landforms and weather systems, as well as inner spaces, of the body or mind. The works play with the duality of representational painting: while it may simulate the world, it can also be appreciated as a confluence of forms, colors, and textures. The exhibition taps into the visceral pleasures of the opposing drives of human perception: to both sustain illusion and to deconstruct it.
Gabriel Hartley (London, UK, 1981) lives and works in London. He holds a BA in Fine Art from Chelsea College of Art and Design, London, and a Post Graduate Diploma in Fine Art from the Royal Academy Schools, London.
Selected exhibitions include: “Landscapes,” Seventeen, London, UK (solo)(2018); “Reliefs,” Foxy Production, New York, NY (solo); “A Rose Without a ‘why’, It blooms because it blooms,” Carl Freedman Gallery, London, UK (both 2016); “Basic Instinct,” Seventeen, London, UK; “Lozenges,” Pippy Houldsworth Gallery, London, UK (solo) (both 2015); “The Moving Museum,” London, UK (2013); “Slap,” Praz-Delavallade, Paris, France (solo) (2012); “Arte Furini Contemporanea,” Rome (solo) (2011); “Gabriel Hartley,” Swallow Street, London, UK (solo); “Jerwood Contemporary Painting Prize,” Jerwood Space, London, UK (both 2009); “John Moores Painting Prize,” Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool, UK; and “Parade Space,” London, UK (both 2008).
CREDITS
Photography: Charles Benton.